I'm having a similar issue! It seems characters aren't speaking at all when they're paused, and since I issue combat commands in pause mode, I don't hear anything. But the bug happens outside combat as well.
To replicate:
Pause the game.
Select a party member.
The character won't say anything.
Immediately unpause - then you'll hear their selection sound (e.g. Sagani's "Ready watcher", Grieving Mother's chimes, etc.)
If you're quick enough to hit pause in the middle of a selection sound it'll stop it in the middle and it'll resume again when you unpause (assuming you don't take any action while paused).
I'm having a similar issue! It seems characters aren't speaking at all when they're paused, and since I issue combat commands in pause mode, I don't hear anything. But the bug happens outside combat as well. To replicate: Pause the game. Select a party member. The character won't say anything. Immediately unpause - then you'll hear their selection sound (e.g. Sagani's "Ready watcher", Grieving Mother's chimes, etc.) If you're quick enough to hit pause in the middle of a selection sound it'll stop it in the middle and it'll resume again when you unpause (assuming you don't take any action while paused).